Match

A match is a tool for starting a fire. Typically, matches are made of small wooden sticks or stiff paper. One end is coated with a material that can be ignited by friction generated by striking the match against a suitable surface. Wooden matches are packaged in matchboxes, and paper matches are partially cut into rows and stapled into matchbooks. The coated end of a match, known as the match "head", consists of a bead of active ingredients and binder, often colored for easier inspection. There are two main types of matches: safety matches, which can be struck only against a specially prepared surface, and strike-anywhere matches, for which any suitably frictional surface can be used.

Etymology

The word match derives from Old French mèche, referring to the wick of a candle. Historically, the term match referred to lengths of cord (later cambric) impregnated with chemicals, and allowed to burn continuously. These were used to light fires and fire guns (see matchlock) and cannons (see linstock) and to detonate explosive devices such as dynamite sticks. Such matches were characterized by their burning speed i.e. quick match and slow match. Depending on its formulation, a slow match burns at a rate of around 30 cm (1 ft) per hour and a quick match at 4–60 centimeters (1.6–23.6 inches) per minute for unconfined to even 3–6 meters (10–20 feet) per second for confined. The modern equivalent of a match (in the sense of a burnable cord) is the simple fuse such as a visco fuse, still used in pyrotechnics to obtain a controlled time delay before ignition. The original meaning of the word still persists in some pyrotechnics terms, such as black match (a black-powder-impregnated fuse) and Bengal match (a firework akin to sparklers producing a relatively long-burning, colored flame). However, when friction matches became commonplace, the term match came to refer mainly to these.

History

Early matches A note in the Yuan and Ming-era scholar Tao Zongyi's c. 1366 Chuogeng Lu describes a form of sulfur taper or match, small pieces of pinewood impregnated with sulfur, which he claims "impoverished court ladies" used in 577 during the conquest of the Northern Qi. During the 10th-century Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms interregnum, Tao Gu's c. 950 Records of the Unworldly and the Strange stated:

If there occurs an emergency at night it may take some time to make a light to light a lamp. But an ingenious man devised the system of impregnating little sticks of pinewood with sulfur and storing them ready for use. At the slightest touch of fire, they burst into flame. One gets a little flame like an ear of corn. This marvelous thing was formerly called a "light-bringing slave", but afterward when it became an article of commerce its name was changed to "fire inch-stick". Around the time of Marco Polo's supposed visit to China, such sulfur tapers were considered part of the distinctive products of Lin'an (now Hangzhou) and Zhou Mi's 1290 Antiquities of the Martial Forest (t 《武林舊事》, s 《武林旧事》, Wǔlín Jiùshì), while memorializing the traditions of the former Song capital, listed them prominently among the items sold in its markets. They were known as "candle starters" (t 發燭, s 发烛, fāzhú) or "little burners" (t 焠兒, s 焠儿, cuì'er).

Chemical matches

Before the use of matches, fires were sometimes lit using a burning glass (a lens) to focus the sun on tinder, a method that could only work on sunny days. Another more common method was igniting tinder with sparks produced by striking flint and steel, or by sharply increasing air pressure in a fire piston. Early work had been done by alchemist Hennig Brand, who discovered the flammable nature of phosphorus in 1669. Others, including Robert Boyle and his assistant, Ambrose Godfrey, continued these experiments in the 1680s with phosphorus and sulfur, but their efforts did not produce practical and inexpensive methods for generating fires. A number of different ways were employed to light smoking tobacco: One was the use of a spill – a thin object something like a thin candle, a rolled paper or a straw, which would be lit from a nearby, already existing flame and then used to light the cigar or pipe – most often kept near the fireplace in a spill vase. Another method saw the use of a striker, a tool that looked like scissors, but with flint on one "blade" and steel on the other. These would then be rubbed together, ultimately producing sparks. If neither of these two was available, one could also use ember tongs to pick up a coal from a fire and light the tobacco directly. The first modern, self-igniting match was invented in 1805 by Jean Chancel, assistant to Professor Louis Jacques Thénard of Paris. The head of the match consisted of a mixture of potassium chlorate, sulfur, gum arabic and sugar. The match was ignited by dipping its tip in a small asbestos bottle filled with sulfuric acid. This kind of match was quite expensive, however, and its use was also relatively dangerous, so Chancel's matches were never widely adopted for commonplace use.

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